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marți, 27 martie 2012

The "March for Life" 2012 in Romania – a real Celebration of Life

March 25th, 2012 - The March for Life took place in over 20
cities in Romania yesterday, March 24. It is becoming one of the most
important events in Romania, where ideas for life are reflected in the
street. The event of this year expanded nationwide. Largely, the
organizers were pro-vita/pro-life associations and representatives of
churches and denominations in Romania. The organizers of the March
launched a Manifesto, in which they demanded legislation for life and
family in Romania.

Among the participants there were representatives of all generations, mainly young people.

A novelty is the way the March was perceived by the media, unlike last
year. The news was rich, interspersed with many positive comments on
life, and in some cases, the event was particularly debated among the
important issues of the day.

It is an expanding event and had echoes in many important institutions
such as Parliament, City Councils. Representatives of these important
state institutions were primarily concerned about declining birth rates
and poor health of women in Romania, due to abortion.

March for Life in Bucharest

The event, scheduled to take place before the Feast of the Annunciation,
was initiated by the “Gift of Life” in Timisoara five years ago, and
last year it was organized for the first time in the capital Bucharest,
together with local branch of Association "Provita for the Born and the
Unborn". Many other non-governmental, Christian and pro-life
organizations came together this year, to support the March for Life.
The March was held simultaneously in the following cities: Bucharest,
Craiova, Constanta, Deva, Falticeni, Iasi, Ciuc, Oradea, Pitesti,
Resita, Satu Mare, Targu Mures, Timisoara, Alba-Iulia, St. George,
Miercurea Ciuc, Baia Mare, Targoviste etc. There were many people from
the countryside who joined too the Marches in the cities.

In Bucharest, the route was Bulevardul Victoria (Victoria Avenue), with
the end in front of the Parliament Palace. About 1,000 people
(especially youth and children) marched in the Bucharest March of Life.
The majority of participants were affiliated to different
non-governmental organizations, which promote life and protection of
children and family.

Among messages written on the banners and transmitted to the public, one
could note: “Choose life”, “Do not kill”, “Say YES to Life”, “Life
Begins at Conception”, “Abortion Stops a Beating Heart”, “We Are For
Life”, “Right to Life”, “True Doctors Do Not Kill Children”.

The youth handed over flyers with informative texts about the beginning
of life and the tragic consequences of abortion. A Manifesto which
required the adoption of legislation in favor of life and family and
actions to research the true causes of infertility and low birth rate
was launched for the society and politicians, during this March.

In front of the Romanian Parliament, organizers addressed to the
participants to the March. Bogdan Stanciu, president of the Bucharest
Branch of Pro-Vita said: “Our 'March for Life' is not by chance on the
eve of Annunciation. Mother of God was overjoyed at the news of being
pregnant with Jesus Christ. The news that a family will have children
should be a joy for us too. [...]In the past 50 years there were killed
22,178,906 children, through abortion, far more than the nowadays
population of Romania” [which is now equal to 19.24 million people,
according to the last Romanian census]. “The dramatic situation of
abortion in Romania is a legacy of communism, when people forget about
God, and had their brains washed by the atheistic ideas”, said Dr.
Daniela Paun, president of the Association “Gift of Life” Bucharest, in
her address to the participants. “At present, the phenomenon of abortion
in Romania is determined largely by the abortion industry pressures
that make huge money from abortions”, said Dr. Paun. Many other
participants spoke, emphasizing the idea of celebrating life at
conception. The March for Life in other Romanian cities

In Cluj, the March for Life was attended by around 500-600 people. The
organizers, in particular, were the representatives of the Greek
Catholic Diocese of Cluj-Gherla and many other Christian associations.
The banners carried by the participants in Cluj transmitted the
following messages: “Abortion Stops a Beating heart”, “How Much Costs an
Abortion? A Human Life”, “Be Your Child's Hero”, “Romania, a Christian
country – Why Do You Kill?”, “We Were All Embryos!”.

The Greek Catholic Bishop of Cluj-Gherla Diocese, Florentin Crihălmeanu,
who attended the rally, together with many other priests, said that the
March for Life is a Christian initiative which aims to draw attention
“on protection of life from its beginning in a natural way to its end in
a natural way”.

In Arad, the March was organized by organizations “Drept” (Right) and
“Alege Viaţa” (Choose Life). The participants stopped at Children's
Hospital to commemorate the unborn aborted children. In front of the
Orthodox Cathedral “Holy Trinity”, a cross of candles in memory of
children killed by abortion was created. “With this March, we want to
warn people about the tragedy of abortion in Romania. We affirm the
right to life of unborn children from conception, respect for life in
all its phases and the need for family support”, said Ana-Maria Jitea,
coordinator of the campaign “Choose Life” in schools of Arad.

In Oradea, hundreds of locals gathered in the center of the city, near
the statue of Mihai Viteazul (Michael the Brave), who ruled all three
Romanian principalities in a personal union. Many parents brought their
children with them. The following messages were printed on the posters
and banners: “Thank you, mom, for my life”, “Your mother chose life, do
the same!”, “My mom did not kill me!” or “Abortion does not free you! It
burdens your soul!”. “Statistics show that in Romania, on average, a
woman has 4 abortions, but we have absolute record of women with 35
abortions or more each. Figures are frightening. We have every year
47,000 teenagers who have abortions and kill their babies in their
wombs. That is why I support this March. We have to cry for those who
cannot cry”, said Florica Chereches, deputy mayor of Oradea, a mother of
four children and a grandmother too. Also, the March was attended by
Mrs. Rozalia Biro, the second deputy mayor of Oradea. Mrs. Rozalia Biro
wore a banner: “Our Children – Our Future! Say NO to Abortion!”

In Timisoara, the event held its fifth edition, at the initiative of
Monsignor Ioan Chişărău, president of Darul Vieţii (TheGift of Life, HLI
affiliated). The March united all the confessions for life. There was a
special guest, Joannes Bucher, Coordinator for Europe of the
International Human Life International. Among other important guests and
participants were Senator George David, Deputy Cristi Dugulescu, Greek
Catholic Bishop Alexandru of Lugoj, Fr Silviu Damşe, representative of
Timisoara Orthodox Archdiocese, Monsignor Todea and Fr. Titus Sas, from
Cluj, Father Emmanuel, sent by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of
Bucharest, Fr Fazakas (Reformed Church), Mr. Ghiţă Alexei (Director of
the Provita Esthera Timisoara), Alex Neagoe, Baptist pastor, and, of
course, Fr. Ioan Chişărău, president of Darul Vieţii.

In Iasi, the March for Life was organized by the Association “First
Step”, “Solidarity and Hope”, an Orthodox organization and the Diocesan
Center “Caritas” Iasi. Over 300 people attended it. Participants started
in the Cultural Palace Square, and after saying the prayer “Our
Father”, they went to Maternity Hospital “Cuza Voda”, where they lit
candles in memory of children killed by abortion. The speeches were
delivered by Fr. Razvan Petre Aonofriesei Puiu, Orthodox priest, Iosif
Dorcu, priest from the Roman Catholic Diocese and Geanina Ungurianu,
President of Association “First Step”.

The March for Life reflected in the Romanian mass-media

The event was reported in almost all the national press, by newspapers
and news agencies, such as “Evenimentul Zilei”, “Gândul”, “Adevărul”,
“Ziarul Lumina”, “Hotnews”, “Mediafax” and television channels, like
TVR, TVRinfo, Antena 1, Realitatea.net, Antena 3. A show at B1TV tackled
some of the subjects raised by participants in the march like the high
abortion rate, the consequences of abortion in the society and the low
birth rate. Participants, parliamentarians among them, agreed that a new
attitude regarding the condition of the unborn children and family
support in Romania should be built. It was also noted that the young
generation is more and more against abortion. They emphasized the need
of activities of the Romanian Orthodox Church regarding education on
family and tragedy of abortion.

Conclusion

As a conclusion of the events that took place throughout the country, on
the eve of the Annunciation, Bogdan Stanciu said: “The most important
is that there were twice more participants than last year, around a
thousand participants. The vast majority of participants were young and
very young people. We are pleased that the press was very much present.
Little by little, the society starts to be interested in this topic. Our
goal, as the organizers of this march, was to bring the issue of
abortion on the public agenda. We are glad that we succeeded to do
this.”

Dr. Daniela Păun from the Bucharest branch of the "Gift of Life"
Association from Timisoara, said: “Our organization is thankful to all
the participants to the March for Life in Bucharest, especially to those
who worked hard in organizing it: the Byzantine Orthodox Association
Pro-Vita for the Born and Unborn, the Catholic Association for Families
"Vladimir Ghika", the Greek-Catholic "Annunciation" Movement for the
protection of the unborn children, as to the Protestant and
Neo-Protestans brothers in Christ. We hope to continue to collaborate
during the whole year in the capital of the Romanian abortion industry
in order to obtain as soon as possible, the recognition of the beginning
of the human life from the moment of conception and the interdiction of
the abortion in Romania. Overcoming the censorship of the main national
private mass media through internet and personal contacts, we hope to
harmonize our projects with those of the pro-life warriors from the
whole Romania in order to realize he objectives of the Manifest for Life
(click here for english version) presented at the March."